How MOT Requirements For New Cars Could Change In 2018

You know the drill. Your annual MOT test is coming up and that feeling of dread has hit the pit of your stomach. Will your motor make it through first time? Fingers crossed. You drop your motor off, and hope for the best.

But prepare yourself for a shake-up, as the latest announcement from the Department for Transport has dropped a couple of potentially significant game changers in the nerve-wracking world of the MOT.

Read on to find out how you might be affected…

What’s changing with the MOT test in 2018?
From 2018, car owners might be able to breathe a sigh of relief for an extra year, due to a new proposal. The current MOT system requires the first MOT test to be booked in after three years, however the Department for Transport (DfT) has suggested a need to extend this to four years.

This proposed change will be applicable to private passenger cars and motorcycles, but not to black cabs or hire cars as both require an MOT after just one year on the road.

Why the change?
The DfT has a method to this suggested change, in that the modern car is of a better standard than in previous times. The test was first introduced in the 1960’s and since then, there has been significant improvement in both the manufacturing and build quality of cars. Throw in safer technology and more advanced quality control practices in the modern world and it all adds up.

In addition to this, the rise is set to save motorists as a whole roughly £100 million every year. This is due to the fact that they won’t need to hotfoot it along to a testing centre as soon as they would ordinarily have had to.

Are there any cons to the new MOT test?
It’s not necessarily all good news however, as a reduction in the yearly MOT test could see local garages lose substantial earnings and therefore hike up prices for other services.

It could also mean that any car possessing a problem could be on the road for an additional year longer than it should be.

Anything else you should know about?
Good news for any Jaguar E-type owner, as from May 2018, classic cars more than 40 years old will be exempt from MOT testing.

Currently, any passenger car made before 1960 is exempt from MOT Testing; totalling around 200,000 vehicles on the road today. The DfT estimates that this change could affect a further 293,000 motors.

This has led to fears over the safety of these particular types of car, however the DfT have stipulated that classic cars are often cherished and therefore well looked after by their owners. Due to the nature of this, they likely aren’t driven nearly as frequently as those sought for the daily commute.

This doesn’t mean to say that such classics like the Mini can’t go ahead and book in an MOT test, as owners will be able to voluntarily elect for one if they feel their car needs it.